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Thursday, March 6, 2014

Welcome to Our Techie Adventure

Four hours, more brownies than we are comfortable admitting, a sweet tea and diet coke later...a beautifully created header that was, well, wonky.

We aren’t the most seasoned teachers on the block- yet we aren’t the greenest. Heck, we aren’t even the greatest techies in the world...nation...state...county...or district even. It took us an hour, after all, to center a heading.

But we dislike being defined by what we aren’t.

We ARE...

passionate.

stubborn.

relentless.

frustrated.

Once upon a time, ten years ago when the first of us entered the teaching world, technology meant a computer lab all lined up in neat rows of desktop PCs. It meant playing on educational websites once a week for forty minutes. It meant completing DIBELS testing on PALM Pilots, scan-tron bubble sheets, and shared document cameras. Communication was a phone call, an email, or a paper-copy newsletter.

Fast forward to 2014, and technology for us now means Macbooks and iPads on demand, multiple program licenses, and apps coming out of our ears. Communication is Social Media, text messages, and electronic copies. Technology has gone mobile, and our teaching has been revolutionized.

We understand the joys of watching students discover, create, and own their learning.

We understand the defeat of a “flopped” lesson, but value the learning that it brings.

We understand that the praise for being a tech leader...often comes too far and in between.

We understand the frustrations of feeling confined to a status quo and standardized set of rules and laws.

We understand that not everyone will like what you are doing.

Ever experience any of that? All of it? We hope that you will find both inspiration and comfort as we share the daily happenings in our tech-integrated, elementary classrooms.